Embracing the Unfamiliar

Two weeks ago, my husband and I took the kids camping in the Catskills. I went for a walk into town and came across this antique store that just spoke to me. Now before I go any further, just going into the store was a big deal for me! Typically I tend to walk past small boutiques because I feel uncomfortable when I’m the only one in the store and all eyes are on me. I know…I know…I’m working on it. So to just enter this store was embracing the unfamiliar! I don’t even know if I consciously made the decision to go in. It was truly like I was pulled in by a force greater than myself. Happy to report I was not the only one in there and that it was much bigger than I originally thought.

This antique store, Maison Bergogne, felt more like a museum and an art gallery, and in a way it was. I later found out that Juliette, the owner, is an artist, decorator, and photographer – so there you go. There were large canvases of her work, lighting and backdrops to showcase some of the pieces, and furniture so creatively and strategically set up.

Listening To That Inner Voice

As I was leaving, I noticed this gold upholstered chair sitting in the front. The natural light on this piece was so pretty that I just stopped in my tracks and thought I wanted to photograph someone sitting on it. It wasn’t the chair, but more the atmosphere that the chair was a part of. The thought came to me to ask the woman behind the counter if I could take her picture over by the chair. I brushed the thought away as nonsensical. I didn’t even have my camera on me. But, this little voice kept circling in my head to speak up. I was really struggling with wanting to go up to this woman and talk with her about this, and simultaneously wanting to simply turn and leave.

Leaving Your Comfort Zone

Like I mentioned in this earlier blog post, I’m a big proponent in the idea of saying yes to things. I believe that leaving your comfort zone at times, yields big results. So I walked up to the woman and found out that it was indeed her store. I explained that I was a photographer camping down the road. After letting her know that I found her whole shop to be inspiring, I asked if I could come back the next morning with my camera to photograph her and her store. She amiably agreed and I went back the next morning. The rest, as they say, is history. I captured her creative brilliance and left there that day feeling humbled and inspired. By embracing the unfamiliar and stepping out of my comfort zone, I felt so much joy and readiness to begin some creative projects of my own.